Dress Up
by Kirsty Joy
Summary: She agreed to attend the fundraiser with him, and even to allow him to pay for her outfit for the evening, but only on one condition... Lighthearted Chlollie, no particular time setting.


Hey, all of my stories inadvertently got deleted off of this website. Two of my stories are gone for good -off of my computer as well - ("Second Chances" and "Big Girls Don't Cry"), but I've managed to restore this one. Hope you enjoy it! :-)

_Yay, my second Chlollie! (And I love reviews, they make me soooo happy...)_

**Dress Up**

"Oliver," Chloe glared at him, "I've agreed to attend your stupid fundraiser with you. I am NOT letting you pick out something for me to wear!"

"Aw, come on, Sidekick," he wheedled, "You're doing me a big favor by coming, won't you let me at least pay for your outfit? It's not like I can't afford it."

Arms crossed in front of her, Chloe regarded him with thoughtful eyes. Just as he started to get uncomfortable and wonder if maybe he should have just been happy with the promise of her company and not bother with the wardrobe thing, she nodded.

"Alright." shrugging slightly, "You win."

"What?" his mouth dropped open in shock.

"I said, 'you win'." she repeated with an amused gleam in her eyes, "You can pay for my clothes for the evening."

"Great!" he breathed out, "I..."

"On one condition," she held up her hand, interrupting him and smiling when his shoulders sagged, "That you and I pick it out together."

He stared at her, "I wasn't going to go shopping, Sidekick, I was going to call a nice store, give them your measurements, and pay for the nicest dress they had. I don't really have time to go in person."

"I know," she inclined her head and looked at him with a slightly evil grin, "But either you make time, or I show up at the fundraiser in my work clothes."

"Not that I have any problem with your work clothes," he paused, looking her up and down, "I like them. But they're not exactly..."

"Great, we have a deal then," she smirked at him, "You can pick me up at my place right after lunch and we'll get started. Make sure that you free up your whole afternoon though, this could take a while."

Oliver watched as she spun on her heel and left, wondering what the heck had just happened. Not that he minded getting a chance to do something aside from business with her, he just wished that he had been paying more attention to the conversation and less to her right at the end.

Chloe rummaged through her closet, looking for something that would be good for trying on other clothes. Avoiding anything with zippers or buttons up the back, she finally decided on a simple blouse and navy pencil skirt. After she dressed she looked at herself in the mirror with a sigh. Why was it that all of the men in her life saw her as everything but an attractive woman? Just because she didn't flaunt her body as much as Lois or Lana had, didn't mean that she didn't have anything to flaunt if she wanted to. She hadn't really minded for a long time, not since her crush on Clark had faded into oblivion, but the secret feelings that she had struggled to hide even from herself were starting to bring the fact to her attention once again. Oliver's constant 'Sidekick', while endearing, made her feel about as attractive to him as Robin was to Batman.

She shook her head at herself in the mirror. The truth was that she wanted to feel pretty, to play princess, to dress up for a while, but she also wanted to have someone there to appreciate her appearence. That's why she had arranged for Oliver to come with her to pick out her dress for the next evening. She wanted his attention for a while. She knew that once they were at the fundraiser she would have to do her job and investigate why exactly this particular fundraiser was so fruitful every year. Last year the fifth wealthiest man in the world had declared bankruptcy after attending, and Oliver had confessed that he had felt the urge to give all of his money to the same place but had been called away by a business emergency before he could do any real damage.

A knock on her door brought her back to her senses, and she shook her head with a self-ridiculing, mirthless, smile, what was she thinking? Why even bother? Why would someone who had access to so many eager women be even slightly interested in her?

Her pessimistic thoughts were dissolved as soon as she opened the door and saw Oliver standing there.

"Hey, Sidekick," he grinned, "Ready to go?"

"Sure," she grabbed her purse, "Ready and waiting."

"Let's go then."

They pulled up in front of a store and he opened the door for her before leading the way inside.

"Now," he whispered in her ear as they entered, "Don't look at the price tags. Just think about what you like, not how much it costs. Promise?"

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, "I'll try."

"Good, now you go pick out a few things and I'll meet you at the fitting rooms in a few minutes."

They parted ways and made their way around different sides of the room. Oliver, thinking of her usual taste in clothes, picked out some dresses that practically screamed 'business formal', and then paused next to a dress that made him smile.

"Let the fashion show begin." he grinned, pushing his selection of dresses into her arms and sitting down in the chair provided for him by the sales lady.

Closing the door behind her, Chloe hung the dresses up on the waiting rod and stepped back to choose her first one. Skipping over the more practical looking selections, she picked out a beautiful wine colored dress with a fluttery knee length skirt and a bodice covered with elegant embroidery that you had to look at twice to notice. Slipping out of her clothes she pulled it over her head and gazed at herself in the mirror, feeling almost like a little girl again in her first party dress. She was about to twirl in front of her reflection when she suddenly stopped and opened the door.

Oliver pulled his gaze away from the ceiling when he heard the dressing room door open. His mouth suddenly went dry as his eyes fell upon the suddenly shy blonde who was standing next to her door biting her lip.

"Wow, Chloe!" he nodded his head, feeling like an idiot.

His loss for words seemed to restore her confidence and she stepped out in front of the three-way mirror across from him. "I thought that since you were the one who picked it out, I'd let you be the first one to see how it works." she smiled, "Wanna see?"

"Huh?" his eyebrows rose, "How it works?"

"Yeah, watch." She lifted the heels of her shoes off the ground slightly and whirled around as her skirt swirled around her.

Oliver swallowed as her actions gave him a lovely view of her nylon clad legs up to the mid thigh, then suddenly he didn't see her legs, he saw her. Chloe. Having fun. Twirling around in a beautiful dance. He smiled at her, enjoying the sight of her unselfconscious enjoyment.

"Well?" she spun slowly to a stop and her skirt swished around her legs as she looked at him with a question on her face.

"Beautiful," he said honestly, "Just beautiful."

"I love the dress," she told him, after flashing him the megawatt smile that he had been unconsciously missing so much, "It's perfect."

"You don't want to try on anything else?" he asked, trying to keep his surprise out of his voice.

"No," she shook her head adamantly, "This is the one I want."

"Good," he smiled warmly, "I'm so happy."

"But Oliver," she cocked an eyebrow in his direction, "I do have one question. What made you pick this dress? I had you pegged as a 'my date has to wear green' type of guy."

"You really want to know?" he paused when she nodded and then stood up and walked closer until he was close enough to put his hand on her shoulder and look down into her eyes, "Then I'll tell you. Green is too impersonal a color for you. This is the color I've always imagined you in, it's warm, quiet and beautiful. As far as that particular dress goes, it's pretty and simple at first glance, but, also like you, it's not until you look twice that you see the real beauty and complexity. I don't know, it just felt... right. Like you."

A smile slowly grew on her face even as a tear sparkled in her eye. "You know me too well, Queen," she said with a little wink, "And I don't seem to know you quite so well as I thought."

"You know me better than anyone else, Chloe," he said earnestly, his finger caressing her cheek gently, "The only thing you don't seem to understand is the way I feel about you. The way I have felt about you for a long time."

She opened her mouth to ask, but never got the chance when his mouth captured hers in a gentle kiss. When it ended he rested his forehead on hers and whispered something before pushing her into the dressing room to get changed. She looked at the door in a daze for a moment, then, as it clicked shut, everything finally registered and her face brightened and she spun around once more, letting the skirt float around her. As she reluctantly slipped the dress off, her mind joyfully replayed Oliver's parting words that gave a new feeling to her old nickname.

"You're beautiful, Sidekick. I love you more than you will ever know."

**The End**

_I looked for a long time to find a dress like the one that Chloe is wearing, and the closest I could come up with was this one... just copy and paste the link and then remove the spaces to see the dress. _http :/www .simply dresses. com/ shop/view item-PD348310

_Roll your mouse over the maroon dress to see the one I picked. :-)_


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